Tucked away on the second floor of the Okura Hotel at the Newport World Resort is a restaurant that serves up Chinese cuisine of a different magnitude. Boss Kitchen has been operating for all of six months, and its’ interiors don’t signal restaurant serving up Chinese food; but it’s quickly gained a reputation as the place to head to if you want a magical, modern-day Emperor’s feast. Chef Cham, and Chef Rey
Cham Kin Ming is the attending wizard/chef at the Boss Kitchen, and his able magician-apprentice is Roy Angeles. In a previous life, Cham was one of the personal chefs of illustrious Hong Kong based industrialist Li Ka-Shing. The best kept secrets of Boss Kitchen are their tasting menus. They’re gastronomic experiences that belie Cham’s prowess in the kitchen, and how he’s a virtual sorcerer - blending Cantonese and Sichuan dishes with little tweaks and flourishes, that personalize these dishes. The ultimate is the Michelin Menu, that translates into a 10-course feast that highlights the Boss Kitchen’s search for the very best quality in ingredients and produce. It’s a dining encounter that one won’t easily forget. It teases you with tastes and flavors that at first feel familiar, but then take you on a journey that enhances and expands on your notion of what any particular dish is all about. Trio of appetizers
First course is a trio of appetizers. The Century Egg lying on a bed of picked ginger, lightly breaded Squid, and a surprise Lemon Mousse that straddles the line between savory and sweet. With this course alone, you sense that this will be an exploration, and not any ordinary meal. The special fish maw sharks fin
Then there’s a Sharks Fin soup that has Fish Maw and a little bit of Chicken broth, but swimming in Pumpkin Soup. Beyond how unexpected the Pumpkin Soup, is the realization that it works and is delicious! Iberico Char Siu
A ceremony is made of the slab of Iberico Pork that is brought out and expertly flamed, then sliced to produce our Char Siu for the night. It’s served over berries and slathered with a deep, rich sauce. Abalone and Black Garlic Chicken
South African Abalone and a Black Garlic Chicken are up next, and they both reiterate this theme of giving us comfort food that has been reinvented. The crispy aspect of the chicken skin is one of the highlights of this dish. The Garoupa
My absolute favorite was the Garoupa. It was deboned and streamed for six minutes, and served with a pumpkin sauce, and not the expected soy sauce. Again, this was a great way of giving us the unexpected, but making us love that this was happening. Duo of Desserts
A delicate Chocolate Puff accompanied by a cream-filled strawberry, and a Mango Sago made the duo of desserts. The Mango Sago was enhanced with Birds Nest, and this capped that motif of throwing in something from left field. The Michelin Menu listing
The Michelin Menu costs a pretty penny; but it more than lives up to its name as a Degustation that spares nothing in elevating the quality of what we’ll be indulging in. The team behind Boss Kitchen are set to open a new eatery that will highlight Taiwanese cuisine, and be catering to a broader market. But for the discriminating and those with deep pockets, Boss Kitchen is the culinary dream come true!